A Soft Wheel Robotic Cane for Light Mobility Disabilities

With the increasing global elderly population and, naturally, mobility limitations, the number of people requiring walking aids is increasing. Research on robotic walking aids tends to focus on walkers, while robotic canes are usually designed for hospital or clinical use. Research into compact, low-cost robotic canes intended for use outside clinical environments remains limited. This work aims at designing a robotic cane with a deformable wheel and exploring its dynamics in a variety of terrains and small obstacles. A flexible wheel fabricated from thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) material allows it to adapt to different surface profiles. The motion is controlled via a LQR controller. The prototype was tested in several real-world scenarios, with users without walking difficulties, and in rehabilitation scenarios, with users with mild locomotion difficulties. The flexible wheel proved capable of adapting to terrains with some irregularities while still providing support to the users. Furthermore, expert opinions suggest benefits in terms of musculoskeletal efforts.